@Quark, you never know, you may actually get a reply that's more than a rubber stamp. I'm certainly not trying to discourage your writing to any politician, its good to let them know there are still voters out there with more than half a brain. Besides its real value is when you share the letters with bloggers on sites like this, makes it more of an open letter to the president.

You can still call me Nels, it is my name afterall (it hasn't changed). The new website defaulted to my original user login name, and oh well, that's the way it is. I'll answer to either Nels or Maxrot.

@Quark -

But Wellstone ran for office before the Citizen's United decision. His opponents may have had more cash-on-hand, but the warchests were at least in the same approximate order of magnitude.

How would Paul Wellstone have fared if his opponent's campaignscould outspend his by a factor of 100? Howzabout by 1000? If they could literally flood the airwaves (and the internet) with lies about him?

Wellstone lived in a VERY different world from the one we've been thrust into. We remember that world fondly, and we hope to bring some semblance of it back, but for now, it's GONE!

@Nels -

It has always been my opinion that the statement -

time = money (or vice versa)

Seriously undervalues time.

@mstaggerlee:

money = time

money = speech

money = power

money = more rights

money is the end all be all

Mark K: Rogue Republican senators are not the only people the unemployed have to worry about. It might surprise some people, but many unemployment insurance claims are not directly processed by states but through private companies. Perhaps some of you have heard about a company called the Talx Corporation that has been in the news recently. A New York Times story suggested that the company, which handles 30 percent of all unemployment claims of mostly large corporations, has been actively delaying, contesting or denying unemployment insurance applications, which aids businesses who lay-off workers by saving them money on insurance. Advocates for the unemployed and state officials have long complained of Talx’s frivolous appeals, baseless delays, and even outright fraud. Talx claims that it is merely being “vigilant” in investigating illegitimate claims, but others assert that the company, because it promises to save their clients money, deliberately contests legitimate claims in the hopes that that unemployed persons will eventually tire of fighting them. Of course, this is what all outside “human resource” companies do--promise to reduced their client’s employee expenses; in order to justify what they charge for this service, such companies find ever more insidious ways to suck blood out of workers.

The FTC has in addition fined Talx--which also supplies credit reports to employers and lenders--for failing to insure that these reports are based on accurate information, and failing to notify individuals of adverse results because of the use of these reports.

@John Doh!: whadday call Limbaugh and Beck devotees?

@Maxrot

I agree that Carl and Christine do a nice job filling in for Thom. In fact, I appreciate a change every now and then. I do wish there was more balance between them when they do their show. It seems that Carl is the host and Christine is his sidekick, but I guess that's the dynamics from their regular show. I'm actually looking forward to hearing Peter B. Collins on Friday.

I've noticed the same thing for a long time. It's like Thom is a Pied Piper and when the children don't hear his flute they don't come. It seems there's a cult of the personality, and it's not just around Thom, but with almost all "progressive" talk show hosts I've heard. Ron Reagan Jr. might be an exception.

This has inspired me to name these codependent followers of some of the most prominent hosts:

Thom has his... Thomatons

Randi has her... Rhodeskill

Steph has her... Stephylococcus

Bill Press has his... Unimpressives

Ed Schultz has his... Ednoramuses

and my personal favorite...

Mike Malloy has his... Hoi Malloy

My father was a West Virginia coal miner for some 30 years (1923 to 1953). For much of that time, he was a foreman and thus not a member of the UMW. But, he would not work in non-union mines because he considered them death traps. According to him, no government inspectors ever did anything at all; the only safety enforcement came from the union.

My dad's last day(s) in the mines may give you an appreciation of what it was like then -- and what it's still like today in a non-union mine such as the one that just killed so many men. As a foreman, my dad was responsible for two things: safety and coal production. He was foreman of the day shift in 1953 and the foreman of the night shift was putting out a LOT more coal than dad's crew. The reason was simple; the night shift foreman kept having his men overextend the front of the mine without setting timbers that would assure the top didn't cave in and my dad's shift had to spend the first hour or so putting in those timbers before they could start producing coal. The company leaned hard on my dad to produce as much coal as the reckless night shift foreman, but dad refused, saying, "That guy's going to get some one killed." Sure enough, one morning when my dad arrived at work, three men on the night shift had been killed when the ceiling of the overextended front caved in. My dad turned around and left and never worked another day in the coal mines. (He got a job with GM in Cleveland and became a United Auto Worker.)

That is what coal company owners are all about -- they could care less about safety because THEY don't go into those mines. Blankenship should be prosecuted for manslaughter. He personifies the pure evil that is big coal.

Randy Thompson
Albuquerque, NM
(formerly of Webster Springs, WV and born in Oak Hill WV)

PS: My grandfather was treasurer of the UMW local around Oak Hill WV back when that meant carrying a gun to fend off coal company thugs hired to steal the union strike funds. He lived the Matewan movie in real life. Don't let anyone ever tell you the coal companies are anything other than evil incarnate.

That last caller was a real tool. Does he think we live in communist china with no worker protections? Sheesh.

@Maxrot - just for the record I LOVE Carl and Christine! I miss Thom, of course, but always enjoy Carl and Christine.

Any lurkers out there want to give a shout out to Carl and Christine?

rladlof, I think Palin-Bachmann is the GOP's version of a wet-dream (as disgusting as that sounds), perhaps the young eagles were scouting Voyeur for an ideal setting for them to launch a campaign that Republicans could get real excited about.

Republicans don't want intelligent canidates, they just want someone whose image can be used as a substitute for their own negative self-hating image. Poor repressed bastards are really screwing up this country.

And yet:

"Palin-Bachmann 2012!!!! The GOP Dream Team!"